SHORT FILM: Selling Children

Pankaj Johar

2018

In the world’s largest democracy, India, millions of vulnerable children are bought and sold, given only what they need to survive another day. Throughout Indian society, the mechanisms of bonded slave labor are insidious, powerful and nearly impossible to escape for children who have become trapped in a system driven by profits. Indian director, Pankaj Johar, looks behind the overwhelming statistics - revealing how a lack of education and persistent poverty provides a breeding ground for modern slavery.

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WHY SLAVERY?

Films

Can Freedom ever be more frightening than enslavement?
A Woman Captured is a raw and intimate portrayal of the psychology behind enslavement. Award-winning Director Bernadett Tuza-Ritter offers an evocative study of a woman so debased and disregarded that even she has lost sight of her own life. As a close friendship develops between the captured woman (Marish) and the filmmaker, Marish’s confidence is slowly restored as she begins to imagine a different life for herself. With this new found sense of confidence, will A Woman Captured ever be able to escape the unbearable oppression to become a free woman?

BBC World News is one of THE WHY Foundation's most important partners. Via their extensive broadcasting network, reaching more than 200 countries and territories, the WHY SLAVERY? films can be seen by people all over the world. CEO Mette Hoffmann Meyer was invited to "Impact" to talk about the campaign with Philippa Thomas.

Can there be justice after genocide, sexual violence and slavery?
In August 2014, an Islamic State massacre of unimaginable proportions took place during the rapid invasion of the Yazidi people in Sinjar, northern Iraq. Young Yazidi women were separated from the old and taken to the Galaxy Cinema in Mosul. There they were paraded, selected, enslaved, tortured and systematically raped. Some were only 11 years old. I was a Yazidi slave follows the Yazidi women’s journey to recovery and ask how a survivor of unthinkable sexual violence can find justice and a path to rehabilitation.

How do prisons make a profit from crime?
In the last 30 years, America’s prison population has surged from 330,000 to 2.3 million inmates. In this deeply personal and provocative film, Academy Award-winning director Roger Ross Williams sets out on a mission to investigate the prison system that has helped drive this explosive web of political, social, and economic forces that have consumed so many of Roger’s friends and family.

Can an employment system hide a reality of torture and humiliation?
Maid in Hell offers a glimpse into the commonplace reality of harassment, abuse, rape and 18-hour work days which migrant domestic workers across the Middle East face. Trapped by the Kafala system, their passports are confiscated and they are bound to their employer. Unable to flee, they risk harsh punishments or imprisonments if they try. “Maid in Hell” gives unprecedented access to this frightening and brutal form of modern slavery. Following employment agents who vividly describe the trade, as well as maids who struggle to find a way home after harrowing, and sometimes, deadly experiences, we come to understand the grotesque reality faced by thousands of women each day.

How does North Korea sell their own people to fund its dangerous regime?
Shrouded in secrecy and notoriously cash-strapped the North Korean regime has resorted to running one of the world’s largest slaving operations - exploiting the profits to fulfill their own agenda. These bonded labourers can be found in Russia, China and dozens of other countries around the world - including EU member states. Featuring undercover footage and powerful testimonials, North Korea’s Secret Slaves: Dollar Heroes reveals the scale and brutality of the operation.

How does North Korea sell their own people to fund its dangerous regime?

Shrouded in secrecy and notoriously cash-strapped the North Korean regime has resorted to running one of the world’s largest slaving operations - exploiting the profits to fulfill their own agenda. These bonded labourers can be found in Russia, China and dozens of other countries around the world - including EU member states. Featuring undercover footage and powerful testimonials, North Korea’s Secret Slaves: Dollar Heroes short film gives an overview of the scale and brutality of the operation.

In August 2014, an Islamic State massacre of unimaginable proportions took place during the rapid invasion of the Yazidi people in Sinjar, northern Iraq. Young Yazidi women were separated from the old and taken to the Galaxy Cinema in Mosul. There they were paraded, selected, enslaved, tortured and systematically raped. Some were only 11 years old. I was a Yazidi slave follows the Yazidi women’s journey to recovery and ask how a survivor of unthinkable sexual violence can find justice and a path to rehabilitation.

Maid in Hell introduces us to 35 year old Mary Kibwana, who is just one of the thousands of migrant women working as a domestic helper in Jordan. Following an incident at her employer’s residence, Mary is flown back to her home in Kenya - where she arrives wheelchair-bound, with burns covering 70 percent of her body. Two months later, Mary dies as a result of her injuries. This story offers a glimpse into the commonplace reality of harassment, abuse, rape and 18-hour work days which migrant domestic workers across the Middle East face. Trapped by the Kafala system, their passports are confiscated and they are bound to their employer. Unable to flee, they risk harsh punishments or imprisonments if they try. “Maid in Hell” gives unprecedented access to this frightening and brutal form of modern slavery. Following employment agents who vividly describe the trade, as well as maids who struggle to find a way home after harrowing, and sometimes, deadly experiences, we come to understand the grotesque reality faced by thousands of women each day.

Is poverty raising a generation of children for sale in India?
In the world’s largest democracy, India, millions of vulnerable children are bought and sold, given only what they need to survive another day. Throughout Indian society the mechanisms of bonded slave labor are insidious, powerful and nearly impossible to escape for children who have become trapped in a system driven by profits. Indian director, Pankaj Johar, looks behind the overwhelming statistics - revealing how a lack of education and persistent poverty provides a breeding ground for modern slavery.